Representative Steven Tilley, O.D.Serving the People of Southeast Missouri

A publication for the alumni and friends of the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry

As a student he was popular,respectful, competent and determined.As a successful optometrist , he hasinspired many of his younger patients topursue optometry as a career. Son ofEverett Ti l l e y, O.D., Steve practicesoptometry in Perryville, MO where helives with his wife Kellie and children,Kourtney and Karin. Dr. Steve Tilley is,h o w e v e r, so much more than a valuedmember of the optometric community.He is also Representative Steven Ti l l e y,representing District 106 in the MissouriHouse of Representatives. He was elect-ed to the House in 2004 and, in 2008, hewas elected Majority Floor Leader of theHouse of Representatives at the 94thLegislative Session and is currentlyChair of the Ethics Committee. Why didhe decide to pursue a political career?“My experience in politics started at ayoung age. When Missouri Optometristswere trying to pass prescriptive authorityin the mid 1980's, my dad would take meto the capital to lobby legislators on theissue. I've been interested ever since.”

D r. Tilley has also received numer-ous honors. He was among six individu-als who received Outstanding A l u m n iService Awards March 4 at the CapitolPlaza Hotel in Jefferson City, Mo. T h eUniversity of Missouri Alliance ofAlumni Associations and University ofMissouri Extension presented the award.In addition, the Missouri OptometricAssociation has recognized him with aYoung Optometrist of the Year Aw a r dand honored him with theirDistinguished Service Aw a r d .

Steve's drive to help others - both inserving their vision needs as well as serv-ing as their advocate is a result, in part,

Spring 2008

M o re than meets the eye

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”

A l b e rt Einstein

G reetings Friends and Colleagues--

Optometry is a great profession,offering a diversity of career paths andnumerous personal and professionalenrichment opportunities. The privilegeof improving the sight and quality of lifeof our fellow citizens is without a doubtamong the most inspiring aspects of ourprofession. It is therefore no surprise thatindividuals who possess caring attitudesand the desire to serve others havealways been drawn into optometry. Formany, that pursuit of improving the sta-tus quo extends well beyond the examina-tion rooms and research laboratories.

In this issue of the Eye Wire we provide examples of individuals withinour college family who have chosen todedicate themselves to important causesthat extend beyond their routine dailyprofessional activities. In more waysthan meet the eye, each provides anexcellent additional example of why somany optometrists are satisfied with theircareer choice. Our students continue toexcel and graduates of our programs certainly acquire the skills, knowledgeand abilities necessary to serve as competent optometrists and vision scientists. It is a pleasure to recognizethat they also are equipped with the driveto make positive differences in manyother creative and significant ways as well.

Larry J. Davis, Dean

Representative Steven Tilley, O.D.(Class of 1998)

of his own experiences at the College ofO p t o m e t r y. "I am very pleased with mychoice of UMSL. I received a qualityeducation, with a low student-to-facultyratio that prepared me for practicingo p t o m e t r y." When asked what advicethat you like to provide to our currentstudents, he responded: "I would advisecurrent students to take pride in our pro-fession and to always stay involved,professionally and politically. Step for-ward and contribute; don't sit back andlet others do the work in which weshould all take part." The people ofSoutheast Missouri are truly blessed tohave Steve Tilley represent them in theMissouri House; the College ofOptometry is very fortunate to have himas our graduate, our role model, and ouradvocate.

Message Fromthe Dean

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NEWS & NOTES

Dr. Tim Wingert and Dr. GaryBachman made a presentation tothe World Congress on OptometricGlobalization April 2008 inLondon, England. The title oftheir presentation was "Flatteningthe Optometric World ThroughThe Use of Web BasedEducation".

Dr. Carl Bassi and Micahel Howewere co-authors on a poster entitled “The Q3D: the reliablilityand validity of a new device tomeasure visual suppression.” Theposter was presented at theAAPOS (American Associationfor Pediatric Ophthalmologyand Strabismus) meeting April 2-6, 2008 in Washington, DC. The abstract was chosen by theScientific Committee at AAPOSas one of the “Best in Show.”

Wesley Kinerk, OD, ‘03, wasrecently featured in an article onthe official web site of the UnitedStated Air Force. Captain Kinerkwas part of medical team on amission to Thailand that providedcare to people of all ages who usually don't have access to healthcare. The link to this story is: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123084233.

The UMSL College of Optometryis proud to welcome its newest facultym e m b e r, Dr. Tom Landgraf. Dr.Landgraf is a graduate of IllinoisCollege of Optometry, followed by thecompletion of a Residency in PrimaryCare Optometry at the PennsylvaniaCollege of Optometry. He most recent-ly served as Chief of the A d v a n c e dCare Ocular Disease Service at theSouthern College of Optometry wherehe received numerous teaching awards.He is a nationally recognized lectureron treatment and management of oculardisease and injections, and UMSLwelcomes him to our faculty where heteaches in the ocular disease clinicaland didactic tracks.

What attracted Dr. Landgraf toU M S L after 15 years at SCO? “I want-ed to return to the Midwest to live and

UMSL Welcomes Dr. Tom Landgrafwork. My parents grew up in St. Louisand I grew up in Chicago. I was veryimpressed with the faculty I met hereduring the interview process. It wasalso a good fit in terms of what I want-ed to contribute to the optometry pro-gram at UMSL (i.e., Ocular Disease).”

His initial impressions of teachingat UMSL have been quite positive. “I am learning a lot and working hard.I have been very impressed with thestudents; they have all been consistentto 'warm my heart' as I have adjusted toa new home and career. I amimpressed with how hard the facultywork here to ensure that the students atU M S L get a phenomenal optometriceducation.”

The feeling is mutual with the students. Shawn Yarnell, second yearClass Representative comments: “All ofthe students enjoy being taught by Dr.Landgraf. He always maintains a posi-tive attitude and is great at motivatingus to be excited about expanding ourknowledge in ocular disease. T h eexperience he brings to the table isinvaluable to our learning.” ClassmateErin O'Neal agrees: “Dr. Landgraf real-izes that we need his guidance andexperience to be successful and is will-ing to help in any way he can. Healways supports a positive learningenvironment for the students. He is aneducator who is challenging andencouraging. He talks to us personallyand learned all of our names so that hecan talk to us on a personal level. He'sjust a good person and UMSL is trulyblessed to have him.”

Dr. Thomas Landgraf

Dr. Wesley Kinerk, ‘03

On March 09, 2008, the UMSLCollege of Optometry presented a seminaron Macular Degeneration with presenta-tions from faculty members Carl Bassi,Ph.D., John Crane, O.D., Edward JarkaO.D., M.S., and Thomas Landgraf, O.D.Guest speaker Joe Pizzamenti, O.D., is amember of the faculty at NOVASoutheastern University. One hundredand twenty attendees from seven states

Macular Degeneration Course Successfulparticipated in the seminar, which includ-ed didactic and case based presentationssupported by panel discussions, grandrounds and break-out workshops. To p i c spresented included etiology/evaluation ofAge-Related Macular Degeneration(ARMD), new technologies in A R M Dmanagement, macular pigmentation, a n dcurrent research in ARMD.

UMSL First to Have an AcademyPractitioner Liaison Program

When Dr. Rick Weisbarth, President of the American Academy of Optometry(AAO), contacted Faculty Liaison, Ed Bennett, about initiating a new program thatwould engage a local Fellow of the Academy to assist with student fellowship informa-tion and education, they both agreed upon who that individual should be, Dr. RexG h o r m l e y, Past President of the AAO. On April 4th, Dr. Ghormley and StudentFellows, Rachelle Penka and Dan Friederich provided a presentation to approximately100 UMSL optometry students on the benefits of both student membership andFellowship in the A c a d e m y. It was announced that Teresa Mathew, ‘09, was awardedthe AOF Carl Zeiss Vision Fellow award. The luncheon program was sponsored by theAmerican Academy of Optometry.

From left to right: Dr. Rex Ghormley; Teresa Mathew, ‘09; Dr. Larry Davis, Dean; Dr. Edward Bennett, Faculty Liaison.

NEWS & NOTES

Kimberly Mark (left), a third-yearoptometry student at theUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis,helps Gabriel Gregson (center)while Sherri Gregson looks onduring the inaugural Easter EggHunt for the Visually Impaired onMarch 16 at UMSL. Hosted bythe university's NationalOptometric Student Association(NOSA), the event featuredEaster eggs that beeped, allowingthe participants to seek them outby listening.

COLLEGE EXPANDS SERVICES FORMOBILE EYE CARE TO SENIOR CITIZENS

Through the efforts of UMSL faculty member, Dr. Ray Myers, the College ofOptometry has already established approximately 20 sites for providing mobile eyecare to senior citizens in Illinois and Missouri in the first half of 2008. These sitesincorporate the senior citizen centers and apartments sponsored by the St. LouisAgency on Aging, the Southwest Illinois Agency on Aging, the Gateway Lions &Partners, Lions Districts, UM-St. Louis College of Optometry, andLenscrafters/Fairview Heights. According to Dr. Myers, “More than 10 individualsare involved in the arrangements for each site, and I am appreciative of everyone's assistance. Wecould not do this without several years of experi-ence which let us expand this program due to theinterest at the various centers and apartments.Both in St. Louis and in Illinois the challenge inthe coming year will be to get Lions Clubs andthe new St. Louis-wide Lions Districts tobecome more involved and extend the seniorservices beyond these mobile van sites.”

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Congratulations to Dr. TimothyWingert who has been promotedto Professor of Optometry. Alsoin the news, Dr. Wingert wasappointed by Governor MattBlunt to serve on the Children'sVision Commission to help meetthe vision needs of Missouri'schildren.

Brett Sobieralski, ‘09, was award-ed the “Carol Freihaut Trustee ofthe Year Award” as voted on bythe Executive Council andExecutive Director of theAmerican Optometric StudentAssociation.

Pictured on the left is 3rd year student Amy Seavers with 2nd yearstudent Brianne Hobbs after com-pleting the 1/2 marathon onSunday, April 6 at the St. Louismarathon.

>>Amy Seavers - 1/2 marathontime 1 hour 43 minutes 47 secondsage group 25-29, placed 34th in agegroup and 126 overall womensdivision>>Brianne Hobbs - 1/2 marathontime 1 hour 35 minutes 20 secondsage group 20-24, placed 13th in agegroup and 33rd in overall womensdivision>>Aaron Franzel, O.D. - full

marathon,time 4 hours 07 minutes33 seconds, placed 61st in agegroup and 546 overall mens division

Julie Gram (AdministrativeAssociate in the Dean’s office) sub-mitted a photo that was selected forthe cover for the most recent issueof Bellerive, the UM-St. LouisLiterary Magazine which featurespoetry, narrative pieces and artworkfrom students, faculty and staffmembers.

NEWS & NOTES

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First Classmates, Now Leaders in Optometry

Before they were doctors, JoniLaFerla and Greg Goetzinger wereclassmates at Southwest MissouriState. They attended biology classestogether in pursuit of being acceptedin Optometry school. They becameeven better friends when they workedtheir way through optometry school,graduating in the UMSL Class of1993. Once graduated, they both com-pleted residency programs and wenttheir separate ways although theyalways stayed in contact. Joni and herhusband, (UMSL Cornea and ContactLens Residency graduate) Dr. JeffLaFerla, visited Greg when he was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany in1994. Both Dr. LaFerla and Dr.Goetzinger ended up back in Missourisettling into group Optometry and

Ophthalmology practices before decid-ing to open their own private optome-try practices. Dr. Goetzinger built abusy practice in Carthage, MO. Drs.LaFerla are growing their practice inKansas City.

Since graduation from Optometryschool, both Dr. LaFerla and Dr.Goetzinger have been involved inMissouri optometry, both locally and atthe state level. In October, 2007, Dr.Goetzinger was elected MOA presidentand in February, 2008, Dr. LaFerla wasthe first woman president elected to theHeart of America Contact Lens SocietyBoard of Directors. Both Dr. LaFerlaand Dr. Goetzinger enjoy the chal-lenges of leadership; both appreciatetime with their families, and both doc-tors recognize the value of friendship.

Dr. Joni LaFerla, ‘93 Dr. Greg Goetzinger, ‘93

Annual August Academe Oral Ocular Therapeutics Update8 COPE/CEE hours total

August 17, 2008 - Sundayhttp://optometry.umsl.edu/ce/08AugAca.html

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NEWS & NOTESUMSL Optometry Graduate in theNational Media

It's impossible to knowEyad Yehyawi, OD, ‘04,and not think very highlyof him as a person, as astudent, and currently asan optometric leader. Acollegiate athlete whoprided himself in main-taining an outstandinglevel of fitness, Dr.Yehyawi - as a result of acongential heart defect -s u ffered a stroke duringthe last week of his resi-dency program at the St.Louis Ve t e r a n ' sAdministration hospital.After six months and apositive report about hishealth, he returned to notonly an aggressive fitnessregimen but he also estab-lished a nutrition programfor both weight loss and optimumnutrition. As a result, his successstory was featured in the June/July,2007 issue of Men's Fitness. His pro-gram, outlined in this article, is beingused by athletes all over the country.His story was also a feature article inthe Iowa Today newspaper. Sincethat time he has frequently beenresponding to requests asking hisadvice on how to approach nutritionas well as methods of training. T h eresult is a book he is currently author-ing entitled “Transformation: UnlockYour True Potential.” He feels thereis a great need for such a text. “Iwanted to write a book that educatedpeople as to W H Y we change, W H Ythis food or training method helps orhurts us, and how to devise the per-fect program for you as an individual.So many manuals are devised around

‘the perfect program’ and when anindividual fails or can't do the work-out exactly, they feel as if they havefailed. I believe you must understandwhy a method works so you canadjust and make changes accordinglybased on your body type, scheduleand preferences. So, I detailed every-thing for people: hormones, nutrition,cardio, and training methods.” A s u c-cessful optometrist in Cedar Rapids,Iowa, it is quite evident that Dr. EyadYehyawi's passion for improving thequality of one's life far transcendstheir visual needs. He is an excep-tional role model for our professionand, without doubt, will continue topositively impact the health and per-formance of athletes throughout theUnited States.

Dr. Eyad Yehyawi, ‘04

Dr. Ed Bennett was on the planning committee of the 2008Global Keratoconus Congress,held January, 2008 in Las Vegas,NV. He also authored an articleentitled “Contact Lens Correctionof Presbyopia” which was published in the May 2008 issueof Clinical And ExperimentalOptometry.

Dr. Cheryl Bergin, ‘05, was featured in the March, 2008 issueof Women in Optometry.

Second year optometry studentDerek Peveler and wife Bethbrought Landon Peveler into theworld on March 3rd.

Ivetta (Siedlecki) Daccache OD(graduate of the Residency inCornea and Contact Lens) and herhusband Tony brought Noelle intothe world on December 26, 2007.

Landon Peveler

Noelle Daccache

The EYEwire is published by the Office of the Dean at the University ofMissouri-St. Louis College of Optometry.

D r. Edward Bennett, EditorE B e n n e t t @ u m s l . e d u

Janice White, Designerj a n i c e . w h i t e @ u m s l . e d u

D r. Larry J. Davis, Deanl j d a v i s @ u m s l . e d u

If you have missed a previous issue of the EyeWire you can locate the archivepage as well as the current issue at: e

http://optometry.umsl.edu/news/EyeWireArchives.html

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Continuing Education in the NewsGP Specialty Lens Practice Today and Tomorow

The second annual GP Specialty Lens Practice Today and Tomorrow symposium willbe held Sunday, May 4th at the JC Penney Conference Center. It will feature Dr. Paul Rose, developer of the Rose K series of contact lenses for the correction ofkeratoconus and post-surgical patients. An entertaining and informative speaker,Dr. Rose will present on the clinical management of the irregular cornea in the morning program and will assist in the moderation of a series of specialty GP patients(keratoconus, post-surgical, multifocal and toric) who will be presented in the after-noon via the assistance of a projection slit lamp. Other faculty participating in thisprogram will be Drs. Tom Quinn, Bob Grohe and Ed Bennett. You can register at:http://optometry.umsl.edu/ce/GP08a.html.

Coding Update 2008

The foremost authority on the ever-increasingly important topic of coding and billing,Dr. John McGreal will be providing a four hour program on the topic of“Understanding the New Medicare Guidelines” on Monday evening, May 5th at theJC Penney Conference Center. Learn how to properly charge for services, evaluateyour fee schedule, adequately document the medical record, and reduce risk in theaudit. Sample forms and case studies will be used for clinical correlation. You canregister at: http://optometry.umsl.edu/ce/08Coding.html.